The safety of lifts is mainly covered by the Lifts Regulations, 2002 and the Inspection of Lifts Regulations, 2007.

When a new lift is installed in a residential building, the installer is responsible for only making available for use lifts that are in compliance with the applicable standards and regulations.

However, the appointed administrator of the residential building where the lift is installed also has a few important obligations by law.

In cases where there is official administrator, these obligations are automatically shared between all co-owners in the condominium.

Before the lift is made available for use, the lift installer – who is the natural or legal person who takes responsibility for the design, manufacture, installation and placing on the market of the lift and who affixes the CE-marking and draws up the EC Declaration of Conformity – makes arrangements for the lift to undergo an independent assessment of conformity by what is known as a Notified Body.

When making the lift available for use and therefore handing it over to the administrator, some important documentation must also be supplied with the lift. This information needs to be drawn up in Maltese or English and at least include an instructions manual containing the plans and diagrams necessary for normal use and relating to maintenance, inspection, repair, rescue operations and a logbook in which repairs and, where appropriate, periodic checks can be noted.

Since part of the information included in the documentation relates to the in-service inspection and maintenance of the lift and to the means provided for the release and evacuation of trapped people in case of a breakdown, the relevant parts of the documentation must be made available to the people in charge of inspection and maintenance and to the rescue service.

The installer is responsible for ensuring that the lift is compliant with the applicable standards and regulations

While this is the responsibility of the lift owner, it also is useful for the installer to provide a convenient place for the storage of the instruction manual and logbook.

Furthermore, the lift installer’s instructions must provide the information on the use of any special equipment, such as tools or software necessary for the safe and effective maintenance of the lift or for rescue operations.

Lifts made available for use before July 1, 2002 must be registered with the MCCAA by the administrator, whereas lifts made available for use from July 1, 2002 onwards must be registered by the lift installer.

A certificate of registration that contains a registration number is issued by MCCAA on successful registration of the lift.

In the case of lifts registered by the administrator, the registration certificate is directly forwarded by the MCCAA to the administrator by post, while in the case of lifts registered by the installer, the certificate must be collected by the installer, who should keep a copy of this certificate and hand over the original to the administrator.

The administrator is responsible for ensuring that the lift is thoroughly examined and periodically inspected at specified intervals by an Authorised Conformity Assessment Body (ACAB).

The official list of ACABs is available on the MCCAA website and the administrator is free to choose anyone from this list. In the case of lifts installed in a residential building, a preventive inspection needs to be carried out every year, together with a thorough examination carried out at least every 10 years.

The ACAB carrying out the inspection or thorough examination will issue a report and send it to the administrator, who is then required to send a copy of this report to the MCCAA within 28 days and keep a copy in his records.

The report may indicate certain repairs that need to be carried out within specified timeframes. The administrator will ensure that the necessary works are carried out within stipulated times and then notify MCCAA in writing that such repairs have been completed.

The administrator is also legally required to keep all records and information related to the lift in a file, including the instructions manual, certificate of lift registration (issued by the MCCAA when the lift is registered), reports of inspections and examinations and any other documents regarding repairs, modifications, servicing and maintenance.

It is also the responsibility of the administrator to keep a logbook noting all thorough examinations, preventive inspections, repairs and maintenance carried out.

This information has been provided by the Regulatory Affairs Directorate, Technical Regulations Division, Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority.

odette.vella@mccaa.org.mt

Odette Vella is senior information officer, Office for Consumer Affairs, Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority.